At the recent ITEXPO (News - Alert) conference in Las Vegas, Epygi Technologies, a U.S.-based designer and manufacturer of business telephony solutions, unveiled the first model in its newest line of “QX” IP-PBXs and Gateways. The new QX200 IP-PBX (News - Alert), which won a Best of Show Award at the conference, is designed for offices with up to 200 employees and is the forward-looking alternative to certain models in the company’s earlier Quadro business phone system line, namely the Quadro4L (26 users), QuadroM8L (98 users) and the QuadroM32x (194 users).

General availability of the QX200 is expected in October, along with two other new QX IP-PBXs and four QX Gateways for analog and digital connections, as Epygi (News - Alert) transitions to the QX product line. The new QX50 IP-PBX is designed for smaller offices with up to 50 users (48 IP devices). The earlier QX1000 IP-PBX, originally introduced in 2011 as the company’s entry into the enterprise market, is discontinued for new sales and is being replaced with the higher-capacity QX2000 that can handle up to 2,000 users. At the same time, Epygi is unveiling four new QX gateways for TDM connections - the QXFXO4, the QXISDN4, the QXE1T1 and the QXFXS24.

Built-in Productivity

Epygi’s IP phone systems have long been designed as affordable, easy-to-administer all-in-one IP-PBXs. Voicemail for every user is a standard feature (no license required) and includes some unified messaging functionality such as retrieving stored voicemail messages via email as attachments or receiving notifications via email or SMS. An Auto Attendant with Interactive Voice Response is also standard to direct callers to an extension or voice mailbox.

The new QX IP-PBXs come with a number of built-in productivity applications which are easily activated by software license key (no additional hardware required). Licensable capabilities include Call Recording, Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), Barge-in, the Windows-based Desktop Communication Console (DCC), an outbound Auto Dialer, Audio and Video Conference Bridges and the Mobile Toggling feature that allows users to start a call on a desktop phone and seamlessly transfer it to an iPhone or Android device, or vice versa. QX IP-PBXs also have a licensable Application Programming Interface (API) for developing customized applications to work with the system.

Video usage is gaining traction in the workplace. A recent Nemertes benchmark study finds that easy access to video technology is resulting in increased utilization, and demand is rising as more and more of today’s workers expect company-provided services similar to consumer services like Apple's Facetime and Microsoft Skype (News - Alert). Epygi is on-target with the QX’s built-in Video Conference Bridge that, as an easily license-activated capability, eliminates the need for costly video equipment. Users only need a video desk phone or a PC softphone with a camera to enable face-to-face communication. The new QX50 IP-PBX supports up to eight simultaneous video users; QX200 and QX2000 allow 16 and 104 video participants, respectively.

The QX Line-up

The new QX IP-PBX portfolio includes three, scalable QX models:

• QX50: For smaller offices with up to 50 users (up to 16 concurrent calls)
• QX200: For small and mid-size offices with up to 200 users (64 concurrent calls)
• QX2000: For mid-range and larger enterprises with up to 2,000 users (300 concurrent calls)

All QX IP-PBXs include support for SIP trunking that allows direct connection to an Internet Telephony (News - Alert) Service Provider (ITSP) without the need for any additional equipment. QX50 and QX200 units also house some FXO and FXS trunk and station ports. Additional FXS, FXO, ISDN BRI, E1 and T1 ports can be added to all three QX models by connecting QX Gateways. Each QX model also supports system redundancy by purchasing a second unit and duplicate license keys (QX50 and QX200) or the Server System Redundancy Activation license (QX2000 server).

Epygi’s new QX50, QX200 and QX2000 IP-PBXs are generally available as of October 1, 2014. The company will continue to sell and support earlier Quadro units, and current customers can continue to update their Quadro IP-PBX with the latest software releases for the next five years.